Month: January 2011

Steel-hulled schooner for sale, lying at Standard Quay, Faversham

Schooner for sale

Schooner for sale

A pal and I dropped by Standard Quay at Faversham to see if we could spot a little lugger that we’d heard a friend is considering buying, so I took the opportunity to bag some photos of how things are there now. I’m sorry if you feel they’re not up to my usual standard – on arrival I discovered the battery of my usual camera was flat and so had to use my mobile phone, which seems to produce quite blue-grey images. I must get a spare.

Anyway, if you’re in the market for a steel-hulled schooner liveaboard, the one currently for sale at Standard Quay may be just what you’re looking for. It looked in pretty good shape to us, though neither of us has ever seen it sailing. The schooner’s pictured above.

Lady of the Lea Thames sailing barge Lady of the Lea Thames sailing barge Cambria being renovated

Roxane at Faversham Thames sailing barge Cambria being renovated

On a more cheerful note, the first two shots above are of the lovely small Thames sailing barge Lady of the Lea, two shots of Bob Roberts’ old sailing barge Cambria in restoration and a nice little Roxane that lives on the creek here.

And below is the bow of another Thames sailing barge Lady Daphne, here in a dry dock being repaired after a racing accident (I believe) and the yuppie flats that have already encroached the area opposite Standard Quay. The blue banner reads ‘Save Standard Quay’. For more on the Standard Quay campaign, click here.

Lady Daphne, Save Standard Quay banner

Lady Daphne, Save Standard Quay banner

Glued clinker John Gardner Whitehall skiff launched by BBA students

Derek Thompson LRPS - Mark Cotterill Whitehall skiff on parade

Derek Thompson LRPS - Mark Cotterill Whitehall skiff on the water Tracey Marler - Mark Cotterill Whitehall skiff Tracey Marler - Mark Cotterill Whitehall skiff waiting for launch

Chelsea Davine - Whitehall skiff with Matt Cotterill and Yvette Smith newly engaged

Photos by Derek Thompson LRPS (first two); Tracy Marler (third and fourth); and Chelsea Davine (fifth)

Boat Building Academy students Matt Cotterill and Nuh dan Per built this glued clinker epoxy ply 14ft Whitehall skiff ready for the student launch in December, reports BBA staffer Emma Brice.

Originally from the Yorkshire Pennines, Matt worked in package design and 3D branding before throwing it all in and taking up the chisel in March 2010.

Matt chose the John Gardner-designed skiff because of its general similarity to the traditional boats of the Thames – he lives in the Thames Valley.

The boat, named Nicky Nacky Noo, was made using Gaboon marine plywood, with West African mahogany plywood for the sheer strake. Matt, who I gather showed clear evidence of his designer’s eye, and great attention to detail and craftsmanship, incorporated steamed timbers and various bronze fittings.

When it came to launch day Matt certainly added a dimension of his own to the schedule: surprised onlookers cheered as he rowed out on his maiden voyage, got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend Yvette. She said yes, and accepted the wooden ring Matt had made himself.

A local newspaper article about the newly engaged couple appeared under the headline ‘Bride and Boom’.

I should add that Chris Partridge of Rowing for Pleasure beat me with this story weeks ago, but it’s still a very cute tale.

With the course is over, Matt is setting up his own workshop to develop wooden products, inspired by the shapes and forms of boat building and using boat building construction methods.

Nuh, Matt’s main helper on the build, is of Turkish descent but was born and grew up in Germany and is one of a number of German students who have studied at the BBA. Nuh was an IT project manager for a car manufacturer before attending the course at Lyme. He is now pursuing boat building opportunities in warmer climates and hopes to move to Greece.

PS – Photographer Derek Thompson has signed up for the next BBA 38-week course due to start in March and attended the December launch day to see what he was in for. I guess he found out…

Standard Quay cause makes the national press

Standard Quay story in The Guardian

The developers planning to turn the Standard Quay area of Faversham into a yuppie flat and restaurant area seem to be gaining momentum with their project. We gather have given the traditional craftsmen of the area notice to quit.

It’s desperately sad to see such an important maritime centre ruined for the sake of the awesome but stupid god Mammon, but it’s heartening too that the opposition is also gathering strength, and this article published in The Guardian this week is an excellent example.  I hope the developers and more particularly the Swale planning authority read this, realise what they’ve done and do something urgent to improve the long term position.

The issue has also been covered by the local TV station’s news team, as the The Quay website explains.

Read an earlier post to find out more about Standard Quay and the issues involved.

PS – One of the reasons why Standard Quay is important is that it is one  of very few places where the skills and facilities exist to maintain Thames sailing barges. I’ve been asked to tell readers that there’s a new film in production about Thames sailing barges, and that a trailer can be viewed here. I’m sure I recognise Bob Roberts in it by the way, so it probably also features Cambria, which is arguably the most famous Thames sailing barge of all. And guess which barge is currently at Standard Quay for a major overhaul? Yes, it’s the Cambria…